Sunday Telegraph 7:40AM GMT 05
Feb 201210Full letter
from MPs to David Cameron on wind power
subsidiesMore than 100 MPs have written to the Prime Minister
demanding cuts to the £500 million a year subsidies paid to the wind power
industry.ThePrime Minister10
Downing StreetLONDON, SW1A 2AA30th January
2012

As Members of Parliament from across the
political spectrum, we have grown more and more concerned about the Government's
policy of support for on-shore wind energy production.

In these
financially straightened times, we think it is unwise to make consumers pay,
through taxpayer subsidy, for inefficient and intermittent energy production
that typifies on-shore wind turbines.

In the on-going review of subsidy
for renewable energy subsidies, we ask the Government to dramatically cut the
subsidy for on-shore wind and spread the savings made between other types of
reliable renewable energy production and energy efficiency measures.

We
also are worried that the new National Planning Policy Framework, in its current
form, diminishes the chances of local people defeating unwanted on-shore wind
farm proposals through the planning system. Thus we attach some subtle
amendments to the existing wording that we believe will help rebalance the
system.

Finally, recent planning appeals have approved wind farm
developments with the inspectors citing renewable energy targets as being more
important than planning considerations. Taken to its logical conclusion, this
means that it is impossible to defeat applications through the planning system.
We would urge you to ensure that planning inspectors know that the views of
local people and long established planning requirements should always be taken
into account.